//------------------------------// // In the Archives // Story: Her Dark Inheritance // by GoesKaboom //------------------------------// Princess Twilight Sparkle had, on her third day of being a princess, decided that she was going to clean out and organize the basement of the Canterlot Royal Archives. It was one of the few places she had been denied access to when she was still simply the student of Princess Celestia. The Sun Princess had explained to her that the basement of the Archives contained knowledge too dangerous to be made available to the general public. The information stored down there included magic too dangerous for most individuals to be exposed to, as well as state secrets and classified intelligence files that were still too sensitive to be de-classified. But now that she was a Princess of Equestria, Twilight had the right to go and absorb all of the esoteric knowledge contained in that underground room. Princess Celestia had even given her blessing, although Luna had interrupted. “Are you certain that is wise, sister? The Archives are off-limits for a reason. Twilight is powerful, yes, but are you certain this is a good idea?” “Twilight Sparkle is now a princess of this nation, Luna. She has the right to go where she pleases, and to read what she wishes. I would like for Princess Twilight to eventually take a more active role in governance, and allowing her access to the Royal Archives is a start.” Luna acquiesced, but she did not look happy about it. In fact, she looked downright scared/ And not long after Twilight becan her exploration, she began to understand why. Princess Celestia had not been kidding when she said that the information contained in these archives would be extremely dangerous if accessed improperly. One of the first things she found was a spell that would force hippogriffs to take either a pony or a griffon form fully, or they would go insane and kill themselves. That is, if the excruciatingly painful transformation spell didn't kill them in the meantime. And even if they did survive it, they'd likely be insane anyway. Not long after she found that lovely, bigoted spell, she found another that allowed the user to take complete control over another's body and make them do things they would normally never do. The note at the bottom of the scroll said that the spell's creator, a unicorn stallion named Pure Lineage, had developed it in order to force his maids to engage in sexual congress with him. Twilight shuddered reading that- violent crime like rape was almost unheard-of in present pony society. And it seemed like it had always been that way to her- apparently not. Of course, it was equally disturbing when she found out, from a letter in that same box, that Pure Lineage had been murdered by an enraged bastard foal of his, upon finding out the truth of his parentage. But apart from the disturbing spells and gruesome reminders of history, some of the other things in those archives were absolutely fascinating glimpses into other cultures, or into the past of Equestria. Twilight found a dossier containing abundant knowledge of Zebrican society from the pre-classical Era- Zecora would have loved that. There was also a magical cure for Poison Joak developed by a half-zebra, half-unicorn mare from that same time period. Perhaps the most interesting things, however, that Twilight found were a collection of old documents and letters, as well as a few trinkets and a painting, from the Penguin Nation. A letter dated twenty years prior, coinciding with the coronation of the current Emperor of Pengin, Icefloe, sat on the top. Curiously, Twilight picked up the letter in her telekinesis and began to read it. To the Most Honored Princess Celestia na Rae, Princess of the Sun of Equestria In response to the questions that your Ambassador, Rootbeer Float, posed to me, I will do my best to answer, although I admit that I am unsure as to how this could be a matter of national security for the both of our nations. While it is known that approximately at the time of both the fall of the Crystal Empire, and the Equestrian Civil War there were at least two pony refugees, as well as a Diamond Dog within the borders of Pengin, I do not know any more beyond that. I do know that it is believed that my revered ancestress, Empress Rokka, grew up with the refugees, which was what prompted her to soften her foreign policy stances. There is evidence to support this, mostly from personal accounts of the great Empress, and also from the penguins in the town in question. However, I believe that you are aware that they would have passed away almost a millenium ago, and therefore pose no threat to either Pengin or Equestria. I hope that this begins to assuage your curiosity. If you require anything else, pleae do not hesitate to ask the ambassador in Canterlot. Tuyet may be getting up in years, but she will do everything in her power to help you. I would know, she was my old nursemaid, she's how I got to where I am today. The Penguin Nation remains your ally. -Emperor Herbert Icefloe I, Emperor of Pengin It was a terse, if polite letter from the penguin Emperor, not really all that memorable in terms of political correspondence. But something didn't really add up. Equestria didn't really have many political or financial ties with Pengin. Although relationships with the country were cordial, nopony really ever went to Pengin, and noquin really ever went to Equestria. The two nations were very different, and from what Twilight had read, the very environment of Pengin would not be sustainable for ponies. It was a bleak, bitterly cold land where nothing other than seaweed and ice-flowers grew. Penguins ate fish as a staple of their diet, too, the thought of which was enough to make the newly-minted alicorn gag. But now, apparently ponies (and a Diamond Dog, it seemed) had once inhabited the frozen wasteland the penguins had claimed as their home. And Princess Celestia wanted to know more about them, for some reason. Curiosity piqued, Twilight moved the letter aside, wanting to see what else was in that box. There was a second piece of paper right underneat the first- this time, a different letter. Immediately, Twilight could tell that it was somewhat more informative than the previous one. The letter-writer appared to be a common penguin writing to Princess Celestia, perhaps on the request of the Emperor himself. It was clear that the penguin had been nervous about writing to the head of state of a foreign power, in a language that was not his or her mother tongue, no loess. To the Most Honored Princess Celestia of Equestria, Bringer of the Sun which Warms the Earth, Her Majesty of the Equine Race... (the greeting continued on in this overly-florid fashion for about half a page), My name is Frozen Feet, of the house of Rokka. I am an inhabitant of the town of Igloo, in the Penguin Nation. Two weeks ago, I received an official correspondence f rom His Majesty, Emperor Icefloe, regarding the history of my town and family, saying that Your Majesty wanted to know about my town and its inhabitants almost a thousand years ago. The honored Empress Rokka did indeed grow up here in Igloo. What is not commonly known is that she was born into a common family- my family. The empress grew up here, amongst the everyday penguins. What is also commonly not known is that for twenty years, the honored Empress lived with ponies and a Diamond Dog, refugees from what your people know as the Crystal Empire. My family has kept the diaries and correspondence of this time period safe. We know the basics of the story, however, we have respected the wishes of those involved, and not looked at the diaries and letters. I would normally not even think about taking them out of the family vault, but because of my Emperor's request to send it to you, I am sending a large piece of my family history via express-mail to Canterlot. I do not know what use the stories of Empress Rokka, her pony friends Andante and Princess Twilight Obsidian, and the Diamond Dog Carbon Iya'Coquina nyu Sombra will be to the national security of Equestria, but whatever it is, I am at your disposal. I will also ask around town to see if anyguin has something else that might be of use. Your humble servant, Frozen Feet, Igloo Township Librarian Igloo, Pengin Twilight set the letter down, her curiosity ignited more than ever. Now she had names. Andante and Twilight Obsidian- maybe they were crystal ponies? Frozen Feet had implied that they were refugees from the Crystal Empire. But what really interested her was the Diamond Dog- Carbon Iya'Coquina nyu Sombra. Modern Diamond Dogs spoke a corrupted version of Equestrian, but there were holdovers from their original language, Diamante, still present in their dialect. One of those was a complex hierarchical structure indicated by names. “Iya'Coquina,” if Twilight remembered correctly, meant that the bearer of that name would have been the daughter of an Alpha named Coquina. As for the “nyu Sombra...” that part was chilling. It meant that that the Diamond Dog had willingly subordinated him- or herself. This Carbon had been the subordinate of King Sombra, if she was interpreting it correctly, and that was how those ponies had ended up in Pengin in the first place. Had Sombra ordered his servant to lock the ponies in a frozen land? Levitating the next item out of the box, Twilight realized it was a small book made from seaweed-paper. In blocky, childlike letter, the front of the book read in Equestrian, “Twilight Obsidian's Diary.” The items lying underneath that were a bundle of letter that appeared to be written in a mixture of Equestrian, Penginese, and surprisingly, Diamante. Luckily, Twilight knew a very accurate translation spell. She planned to start reading immediately, but the voice of one of the palace maids cut through her thoughts. The mare couldn't descend into the bowels of the Archives herself, but her voice was magically amplified to catch the attention of the pony she was trying to reach. “Princess Twilight? Are you down there? Dinner is served.” “I will be there in a moment!” Twilight called back. “Please tell the princesses that I am on my way!” “Yes, your highness,” the maid replied. Twilight looked at the book and the stack of letters. She really wanted to read them, but if she came back down here after dinner, the Princesses would be worried. The next day, she planned to go to Ponyville to visit her friends. And if she left them down here, there was no guarantee she'd be able to find them again. The basement of the Canterlot Royal Archives was like a maze- once you got in, you might never get out. Making up her mind, Twilight gently tucked the items into her saddle-bag, and sent a teleportation spell at it to transport it to her private rooms. With that finished, she trotted off to dinner, her mind blown from what she had just discovered. To Be Continued